Kia plans recall of thousands of vehicles, government shutdown prevents recall approval

Kia Motors will be issuing a recall for thousands of vehicles after hundreds of them have reportedly caught fire, WFTS reported.

The company issued a recall plan Jan. 11 that calls for inspection of properly installed high-pressure fuel pumps during engine recall replacements. The engine recall, 17V-224, was submitted March 31, 2017. It was estimated in the plan that more than 50,000 Kia Optimas, more than 17,000 Kia Sorentos and about 1,000 Kia Sportages would be impacted by the recall.

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"The remedy for the previous recall 17v224 may not have been properly performed in all cases by the Kia dealers," the plan said. "In some cases, the high pressure fuel pipe may have been damaged, misaligned or improperly torqued during the engine replacement procedure, allowing fuel to leak increasing the risk of fire. KMA is not aware of any accidents or injuries as a result of this issue."

The recall plan comes after WFTS, a local news station in Tampa Bay, Florida, reported on hundreds of spontaneous fires in Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Hyundai and Kia have the same parent company, Hyundai Motor Group.

The company anticipates recall approval by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but that will only happen when the government shutdown is over.

Cox Media Group